The reputational damage of non-responsiveness

VCs love to say things like "we are entrepreneur friendly." It's trendy, catchy, and looks good on a blog post. But, as I've said in my post Your Words Should Match Your Actions, one can "damage their reputations by having their words not match up with their actions."

Now – this post isn't about responding to emails. Nor am I trying to be preachy. I'm not trying to explain a new behavior. Rather, I'm making an observation about something I've experienced – both as an entrepreneur and investor – since my first angel investment in 1994.

Here's the situation, as reported this morning by an experienced CEO of a company we are investors in.

"We're raising money.  I have a good intro session.  Prospective investor wants to meet in person, see a demo.  We have a good 2nd meeting.  We agree on action items.  I go away and follow up.

Radio silence.

Follow up again.

Radio silence still.  

The first time it happened I was inclined to think it was the investor and that they just couldn't find the time to send an email response saying, "sorry – no longer interested".   Then, it happened again this month."

Now – initial non-responsiveness – whatever. Lots of people don't respond to emails, intros, or requests for meetings. But after two in-person meetings, to be non-responsive is just plain rude.

How hard would be it be to say "Hey – great spending time with you – but this isn't something I want to pursue." Or maybe "Sorry for being slow – I've been swamped – I don't have time for doing this right now." Or – well – anything.

I've had this situation come up so many times that I'm immune to it. I assume that the VC isn't interested. But I'm amazed at how the reputational damage follows the person around. And then – at some point in the future – that VC is looking for a response for something. Hmmm …

I've had this happen with LPs. When we went and raised our first fund in 2007, plenty of people wouldn't meet with us. That's fine. Lots said they weren't interested after a first meeting. Totally cool. But some met with us but then were completely non-responsive after the meeting. Ok – whatever. But when those non-responsive LPs call me today asking for something – whether it's to get together to "get to know me better", or to get a reference on someone else they are looking at, or to learn more about what I think about the market for hardware investments, it's really hard to get on the phone and spend time with them. I do – because that's my nature – but I always remember their non-responsiveness.

I hear – and say – "No thank you" all the time. Every day. 50 times a day. That's just part of the role I play in business. But I always try to say "No thank you." It's just not that hard. Especially when I know someone, or have engaged with them in some way.

Are you the guy the experienced CEO just encountered? How would you feel if your name – and your firm's name – just went out via email to 60 CEOs attached to this story? Maybe you don't care, but if your message is "we are entrepreneur-friendly VCs" you just undermined the reputation of your firm in a major way.

(Brad has been an early stage investor and entrepreneur for over 20 years and is currently a managing director at Foundry Group.)

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